NEW DELHI: Music director and singer Bappi Lahiri has changed track and moved beyond the Mumbai film industry to join BJP and begin a political career. Party chief Rajnath Singh inducted him into BJP on Friday.

There is a possibility that he may get a BJP ticket to fight the Lok Sabha polls from West Bengal, where BJP has to rely on some celebrities rather than party workers to make an impact in a state where it has very little strength.

The “disco king” known for his numbers rendered as great hits on the disco beat in the 1980s has been considering joining BJP and boost Narendra Modi’s campaign for prime ministership for a while now, it is learnt.

Lahiri or “Bappi da” as he was popularly referred to by his fans, had approached the party after which the BJP leadership deliberated on the issue.

Lahiri’s joining BJP is in line with the trend started by late BJP leader Pramod Mahajan, who had brought in quite a few film industry celebrities to the party for the 2004 Lok Sabha polls. According to a party source, BJP plans to keep up its spree inducting popular names into the party in the run up to the Lok Sabha elections.

The 62 year old Lahiri who was born to musician parents in Kolkata moved to Mumbai when he was 19 and has since had a long and successful career as a music composer and singer as a playback in the Mumbai film industry. He is best known for his disco beat numbers for actor Mithun Chakravarty, who earned his name as “disco dancer” on screen in the 1980s.

With Mithun entering Rajya Sabha on a Trinamool Congress ticket this season, it will be an interesting chapter in the lives of both film industry celebrities from Bengal who seem to be starting their political lives around the same time. They were a hit pair as the actor and playback singer for film hits like Disco Dancerin the 1980s.